‘Green shoots’ in China lift Hong Kong biotechs, but U.S. rally fizzles

A positive signal Tuesday on the outskirts of Ukraine added U.S.-traded companies to a rally led by China’s public biotechs. But whether the rising shares among China’s biotechs, sparked by a landmark NMPA approval for Pfizer, can translate into something more than a brief respite in a months-long downturn for biotechnology stocks remains to be seen. For U.S. biotechs, at least, the upswing fizzled almost as quickly as it got started.

Word early in the week that Russia was pulling back at least some troops stationed near Ukraine’s border — a source of international concern for many weeks — buoyed investors in U.S. markets, lifting biotech boats...